It’s a place to plunge under the water, to immerse yourself in the calming, clearing _____ that takes you away from your routine for a moment.

_____ could be a seat by a tree. It could be a little quiet spot in your office to just give you a break from the twin strings jerking you back and forth between work and home.

Mine’s a bookstore downtown.

It’s a little stop on Illinois Street. It’s an independent store run by a nice lady who’ll chat with you about any topic you want, with a staff that seems to know what it’s talking about. It’s around a corner from my office, so sometimes I’ll take a walk there during lunch or other break midday.

And then I dive.

Past the kids section, past the table of Chicagoana and the glass case of first editions is a stairway down to a floor of books. New and used (mostly used) all mixed together, any topic on the globe.

We’ve all seen bookstores before. I don’t feel a need to describe for description’s sake. It smells like weathered paper and feels like the brush of foolscap over your fingers. Anything other words are just padding.

We all need a place to dive, or maybe just take a dip during a grating workday.